Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Bg 13.30

prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi
kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ
yaḥ paśyati tathātmānam
akartāraṁ sa paśyati

Synonyms: 

prakṛtyā — by material nature; eva — certainly; ca — also; karmāṇi — activities; kriyamāṇāni — being performed; sarvaśaḥ — in all respects; yaḥ — anyone who; paśyati — sees; tathā — also; ātmānam — himself; akartāram — the nondoer; saḥ — he; paśyati — sees perfectly.

Translation: 

One who can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created of material nature, and sees that the self does nothing, actually sees

prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi, that karam is performed by Prakriti

kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ, everything that is happening is because of Prakriti

yaḥ paśyati tathātmānam, one who sees in this way 

ātmānam ātmānam, atma is not the doer 

sa paśyati, 

So how we should see that actually the material nature is the doer of things and the soul is the none doer, 

so as explained in 3.27 also  the more famous verse 

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ

ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.

So actually everything is done by the Prakriti because of ahaṅkāra the deluded soul thinks that I am the doer. So that is the deluded soul but here Krishna is talking about the person who is enlightened one who is able to see things properly, so enlightened person can see material nature is doer and deluded soul thinks that I am the doer. 

So why material nature why not the Lord? Because till now one has not got the clear picture of how Lord interact with the material nature. This is about the Jyani whose conception is evolving, a Jyani vision moves from matter towards the spirit and they see that matter is primarily acting by its own patterns And of course Krishna has talked from the prospect of Bhakti, Maya Adhyakshena Prakriti that ultimately all movement of Prakirit happens under His supervision that is definitely true, 9.10, but here Krishna is talking about Jyanis and Jyani’s  focus is not on God conscious and certainly not conscious of God as the controller of the world there focus is to go beyond this world entirely and think about transcendental spirit, so for them the material nature is working on its own pattern therefore there is no need for me to become attached or captivated and ultimately deluded by it. That means someone speaks very eloquently or looks nicely these things comes from Prakriti some can practice it also but the point is even in some species these things are given so in general these things comes from Prakriti or because of actions from prakriti. 

So for example material nature is inducing lust and one is becoming a puppet to the lust but at the same time he is responsible also and has to face the consequences. People themselves choose to become lusty, greedy, angry.

Otherwise to look at it is, if we are lusty, angry and we think that I am so fallen that means we are identifying ourselves with our material nature but we are not our material nature, I am the soul, and the soul has entirely different spiritual nature which is love and serve Krishna. So there is a huge difference between material and spiritual nature and to the extent we recognize it to that extent I will make advancement, and to the extent I avoid karmic entanglement. So if I wanted to identify with the soul then I have to understand that yes I may have a sickness, I may have an infection which is basically lust or greed or whatever and that can make me behave in terrible ways also but I have to understand that this is superficial to me; at my core I am a pure soul, and there is a periphery which is impure and this periphery can be removed I certainly need Krishna’s mercy for that and I should strive for that. When we see our action as products of material nature that doesn’t make us irresponsible there may be certain reason but I have my capacity to make choices. So when we recognize our material nature that enables us to distant ourselves everything is happening by material nature let us not get entangled. So such a person sees that it is material nature and it will act in a particular ways but to the extent I am identified with it to that extent I will be further dragged into it. And if I don’t identify with it then what are the movements of the material nature they won’t get any further fuel, they may be done but they may be done for the basic bodily needs, for example I need to eat or sleep as a bodily activity but I won’t get obsessed over it, like they are the goal and purpose of life, I recognize that ultimately I have to go beyond these things, I have to recognize my own spiritual identity and live in relation with that spiritual identity so by distancing with material nature we will be doing more steadily spiritual advancement.

End of transcription.